California State University, Northridge
OP-4: Building Operations and Maintenance

CSUN follows the guidance of the most current CSU system wide Sustainability Policy as seen in the link below. In addition to compliance with system level policies, CSUN has also established local IPM protocols. These additional protocols have led to the campus receiving recognition as a Bee Campus USA. See the following link for additional information regarding IPM at CSUN: https://www.csun.edu/sites/default/files/Integrated%20Pest%20Management%20Plan%20%28final%29.docx https://calstate.policystat.com/policy/6987526/latest/ University Sustainability The CSU will seek to further integrate sustainability into the academic curriculum working within the normal campus consultative process. The CSU will develop employee and student workforce skills in the green jobs industry, promote the development of sustainable products and services, and foster economic development. The CSU will pursue sustainable practices in all areas of the university, including: business operations such as procurement; information technology; student services; food services; facilities operations; design and construction; and self-funded entities such as student housing, student unions, parking, children's centers, and auxiliary operations. Each CSU is encouraged to designate a sustainability officer responsible for carrying out and/or coordinating campus sustainability program efforts. Climate Action Plan The CSU will strive to reduce systemwide facility greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels, or below, by 2020 consistent with AB 32, California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (HSC §38550). Emissions will include both state and auxiliary organization purchases of electricity and natural gas; fleet, marine vessel usage; and other emissions the university or self-support entity has direct control over. The Chancellor's Office staff will provide the baseline 1990 facility emission levels (for purchased electricity and natural gas) for the campuses that existed at that time and assist campuses added to the CSU after 1990 to determine their appropriate baseline. The CSU will strive to reduce facility GHG emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2040. Campus tracking and reporting of their GHG inventory will be grounded in the American College and University President's Climate Commitment guidelines or equivalent, with consideration to campus requested improvements. Metrics will include GHG emissions per FTE. The CSU will encourage and promote the use of alternative transportation and/or alternative fuels to reduce GHG emissions related to university associated transportation, including commuter and business travel. Energy Independence and Procurement The CSU shall pursue energy procurement and production to reduce energy capacity requirements from fossil fuels, and promote energy independence using available economically feasible technology for on-site and/or renewable generation. The CSU shall endeavor to increase its self-generated energy capacity from 44 to 80 megawatts. The CSU will endeavor to exceed the State of California and California Public Utilities Commission Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) sooner than the established goal of procuring 33 percent of its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2020. Energy Conservation and Utility Management All CSU buildings and facilities, regardless of the source of funding for their operation, will be operated in the most energy efficient manner without endangering public health and safety and without diminishing the quality of education and the academic program. All CSU campuses will continue to identify energy efficiency improvement measures to the greatest extent possible, undertake steps to seek funding for their implementation and, upon securing available funds, expeditiously implement the measures. The CSU will cooperate with federal, state, and local governments and other appropriate organizations in accomplishing energy conservation and utilities management objectives throughout the state; and inform students, faculty, staff and the general public of the need for and methods of energy conservation and utilities management. Each CSU campus will designate an energy/utilities manager with the responsibility and the authority for carrying out energy conservation and utilities management programs. The Chancellor's Office will have the responsibility to coordinate the individual campus programs into a systemwide program. The CSU will monitor monthly energy and utility usage on all campuses and the Chancellor's Office, and will prepare a systemwide annual report on energy utilization and greenhouse gas emissions. The Chancellor's Office will maintain a systemwide energy database in which monthly campus data will be compiled to produce systemwide energy reporting. Campuses will provide the Chancellor's Office the necessary energy and utility data, such as electricity and natural gas consumption; water and sewer usage; fuel consumed by fleet vehicles, boats, and ships; waste disposal for the systemwide database in a timely manner. Each CSU campus is encouraged to develop and maintain a campuswide integrated strategic energy resource plan, which will include tactical recommendations in the areas of new construction, deferred maintenance, facility renewal, energy projects, water conservation, solid waste management, and an energy management plan. This plan will guide the overall energy program at each campus. (78-Adopt; 88-Revise; 01-Revise; 04-Revise; 14-Revise) Water Conservation All CSU campuses will pursue water resource conservation to reduce water consumption by 10 percent by 2016, and 20 percent by 2020 including such steps to develop sustainable landscaping, install controls to optimize irrigation water use, reduce water usage in restrooms and showers, and promote the use of reclaimed/recycled water. In the event of a declaration of drought, the CSU will cooperate with the state, city, and county governments to the greatest extent possible to reduce water use. Waste Management Campuses shall seek to reduce the solid waste disposal rate by 50 percent (PRC § 42921) by 2016, by 80 percent by 2020, and move to zero waste. The CSU will encourage the reduction of hazardous waste to the extent possible while supporting the academic program. Sustainable Procurement Campuses will promote use of suppliers and/or vendors who reduce waste, re-purpose recycled material, or support other environmentally friendly practices in the provision of goods or services to the CSU under contract. This may include additional evaluation points in solicitation evaluations for suppliers integrating sustainable practices. To move to zero waste, campus practices should: (1) encourage use of products that minimize the volume of trash sent to landfill or incinerators; (2) participate in the CalRecycle Buy-Recycled program or equivalent; and (3) increase recycled content purchases in all Buy- Recycled program product categories. Campuses shall continue to report on all recycled content product categories, consistent with PCC § 12153-12217 and shall implement improved tracking and reporting procedures for their recycled content purchases. Sustainable Food Service All campus food service organizations should track their sustainable food purchases. Such tracking and reporting will be grounded in the Real Food Challenge guidelines, or equivalent, with consideration to campus requested improvements. Campuses shall strive to increase their sustainable food purchases to 20 percent of total food budget by 2020. Campuses and food service organizations shall collaborate to provide information and/or training on sustainable food service operations to staff and patrons. Sustainable Building Practices All future CSU new construction, remodeling, renovation, and repair projects will be designed with consideration of optimum energy utilization and low life-cycle operating costs and shall exceed all applicable energy codes and regulations (Title 24, Part 6 energy codes) by ten percent. In the areas of specialized construction that are not regulated through the current energy codes, such as historical buildings, museums, and auditoriums, the CSU will ensure that these facilities are designed to consider energy efficiency. Energy efficient and sustainable design features in the project plans and specifications will be considered in balance with the academic program needs of the project within the available project budget. Capital Planning, Design and Construction in the Chancellor's Office shall monitor building sustainability/energy performance and maintain information on design best practices to support the energy efficiency goals and guidelines of this policy. The sustainability performance shall be based on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) principles with consideration to the physical diversity and microclimates within the CSU. The CSU shall design and build all new buildings and major renovations to meet or exceed the minimum requirements equivalent to LEED Silver. Each campus shall strive to achieve a higher standard equivalent to LEED Gold or Platinum within project budget constraints. Each campus may pursue external certification through the LEED process. Physical Plant Management Each campus shall operate and maintain a comprehensive energy management system that will provide centralized reporting and control of the campus energy related activities. To the extent possible, academic and non-academic programs will be consolidated in a manner to achieve the highest building utilization. All CSU campuses will implement a utilities chargeback system to recover direct and indirect costs of utilities provided to self-supporting and external organizations pursuant to procedures in the Integrated California State University Administrative Manual (ICSUAM).